Origin from 1947
India's 1947 partition split the Punjab along religious lines, and the western half became part of the new state of Pakistan. The 1941 census had recorded about 1,530,112 Sikhs there, 8.82 percent of the population; amid the widespread violence of partition, Sikhs fled or were driven east into India, and the 1951 census recorded only 35 Sikhs remaining in Pakistani Punjab, a reduction of over 99.99 percent. Sources disagree sharply on how many left and when: the historian Khushwant Singh cites roughly 2.5 million Sikhs leaving Pakistan altogether, while a military evacuation count taken three months after the 15 August 1947 partition found only about 3,680 non-Muslims of any faith still in West Punjab, a discrepancy this atlas states rather than resolves. What is not disputed is the outcome: organised Sikh community life in what had been one of the faith's own historic heartlands ended within months.
Facts
Dates
Start YearSourced to the subject's own account15 August 1947, the date of partition; the departure count itself is carried in the description as the source's own two disagreeing figures, roughly 2.5 million nationally against about 3,680 non-Muslims counted in West Punjab three months later, rather than one invented number. StatusSourced to the subject's own account Learn More
How Partition Displaced Sikhs From West Punjab
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
India's 1947 partition split the Punjab along religious lines, and the western half became part of the new state of Pakistan. The 1941 census had recorded about 1,530,112 Sikhs living there, 8.82 percent of the population, a settled community rather than a recent arrival in the region.
Amid the widespread violence that accompanied partition, Sikhs fled or were driven east into India, and the 1951 census recorded only 35 Sikhs remaining in Pakistani Punjab, a reduction of over 99.99 percent from the prewar population. Sources disagree sharply on how many left and when: the historian Khushwant Singh cites roughly 2.5 million Sikhs leaving Pakistan altogether, while a military evacuation count taken three months after the 15 August 1947 partition found only about 3,680 non-Muslims of any faith still in West Punjab, a discrepancy this account states rather than resolves.
What this changed for Sikhism's spread, whichever count is nearer the truth, is not disputed: organised Sikh community life in what had been one of the faith's own historic heartlands, the region that had cradled Guru Nanak's Kartarpur and the Sikh Empire alike, ended within months of partition itself, its population driven east regardless of which figure for the exodus is believed.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names India directly: "India's 1947 partition split the Punjab along religious lines, and the western half became part of the new state of Pakistan."
Occurred In
Spread Event Of
Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.